Thousands of the citizens of The Gambia have taken to the streets to protest against the declaration of Adama Barrow as winner in the December 4 presidential election.
Adama Barrow, current president of The Gambia, was declared winner in the first vote for decades held without long-term leader Yahya Jammeh.
Mr Barrow, who contested the election under the flagship of the National People’s Party (NPP), polled 457, 519 votes to defeat his closest rival, Ousainou Darboe, of the United Democratic Party (UDP), who garnered 238, 253 votes.
Ousainou Darboe of the United Democratic Party (UDP), Mama Kandeh of the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) and Essa Faal, an independent candidate, all rejected the result on the grounds of late collation and the fact that their party agents “failed to sign.”
A huge crowd of Mr. Darboe’s supporters had on Monday besieged the Kairaba Avenue Street, where he resides.
While some marched to celebrate his ‘victory’, others wanted ‘justice’. They chanted ‘aye ji’, which literally translates to ‘step down’ in the Mandinka language.
“I want justice, I want Barrow to be removed from the State House right now,” said Jami Amfal, one of the supporters.
“Ousainou Darboe won the election. We want Barrow to step down, we want another election,” said another agitated supporter.
In the last election, Mr Barrow defeated Yahya Jammeh, who was forced into exile after refusing to accept the result.
Mr Jammeh’s 22-year rule was marked by allegations of abuse, with witnesses recently telling a truth commission about state-backed execution squads and Aids patients being forced to take bogus cures.
